SKDUN 12TH EUROPEAN SHOTOKAN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIP AND BEAUTIFUL VENICE.

Karate is not only a sport, but also a passion that connects people worldwide. Tournaments, competitions and championships are a great opportunity for athletes to test their skills and meet new people who share the same interests.

This year's SKDUN 12TH EUROPEAN SHOTOKAN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIP & SKDUN 12TH EUROPEAN SHOTOKAN KARATE CUP took place in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. From the 31st March to 2nd April 2023, athletes competed in the following categories: kata and kumite. The SKC team consisted of: Hugo Dzierbun, Liliana Szczecina, Kacper Szczecina, Andrzej Wizowski, Jakub Woronicz, Calypso Simonian, Anna Piotrowska and Jacek Lipiński. SKC athletes won a total of 1 x gold medal, 1 x silver medal and 3 x bronze medals. 

Traditionally, the first day of our trip to Italy consists of the team meeting at the airport, this time we flew from London Gatwick. After less than two hours of flight we landed in Venice, from where we made our way to Lignano. The first day consists of athlete registration and settling the starting fees. After the technical briefing, we had a quick dinner and returend to our accommodation for some well deserved rest

Our athletes' categories began on Friday. The first competitor who competed in the SKDUN 12TH EUROPEAN SHOTOKAN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIP was Anna Piotrowska. It was Ania’s first time competing in a kumite category at such a high ranking event. Ania gained valuable experience in this competition and was placed fourth in her category. The second competitor was Jacek Lipiński, who won the gold medal in the veterans' kumite category, defeating a competitor from Italy and Hungary along the way. Jacek also won the silver medal in the team kumite category

Only on this day the 12TH EUROPEAN SHOTOKAN KARATE CUP was taking place alongside the SKDUN 12TH EUROPEAN SHOTOKAN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIP, in which two athletes from the SKC team competed. Hugo and Liliana in individual kata competitions for children under 8, passing the first round, qualified for the final of the eight best competitors. Our competitors also took part in the pair kata category, in which Hugo and Liliana took fifth place. After the first day of the competition we went for a delicious pizza, after which we went for a walk to the beach, and returned to our accomodation for a well-deserved rest. 

The second day of the SKDUN European Championships consisted of individual categories in which three of our competitors took part: Kacper, Andrzej and Jakub. Kacper won two bronze medals in the individual under 11 years old kumite competition Ippon Shobu and Sanbon Shobu. Jakub and Andrzej competed in the kumite cadet categories of individual Ippon Shobu and Sanbon Shobu. These categories were filled with people of a very high sporting level. Andrzej was placed 4th in his category. Jakub in kumite Sanbon Shobu won the bronze medal. In the fight for entering the finals, jakub lost after extra time by the judges' decision. After the competition, we went to an Italian restaurant and took a walk on the beach.

Calypso competed in the last day of the competition in two categories: Kumite Juniors ippon and sanbon. Calypso did not manage to go to the next round, however, she gained valuable experience that will have a big impact on her starts in the next competitions. We finished our categories on the last day of the competition earlier than on the other two days, thanks to which we had some time to visit Venice. It was my third visit to this city, every time I am there I know that I will be happy to return there next time.

Conclusions: SKDUN 12TH EUROPEAN SHOTOKAN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIP & SKDUN 12TH EUROPEAN SHOTOKAN KARATE CUP was conducive at a high organisation level and included athletes of a very high sporting level. There were over 800 competitors from 20 countries, such as Macedonia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Germany, France, England, Hungary, etc. that took part in the competition. I would like to thank my friend Tomasz Byjos SKDUN Polska,for giving our athletes the the possibility to join his team. I would also like to thank my colleague from the team kumite Marcin Jasiński for his support and winning the silver medal together, and my daughter Tamara Lipinska from The Socials Agency for the photo and film coverage of this competition. These competitions enriched our athletes with new invaluable experience, which will have an impact on their starts in the next sports competitions. The SKDUN World Championship is to take place at the end of September in Greece, where we will want to show our best side.